Misconstructions
by Cheyenne32
Summary: Arrests. Feelings. Hurt. Misunderstandings. Cover-ups. Castle's back and everything is different. Warning: Spoilers from the new promo. Complete.
1. Prologue

**Prologue:**

You take a deep breath as you reach to open the door, praying that he's not there while wishing deep down that he was. You try the slow the loud beating of your heart because your sure that if he was to open the door right then that he could hear it. You hear footsteps on the other side of the door and then hear the turning of the locks on the other side of the door. Then the turning of the door knob a moment later.

As the door slides open, you think that you heart had stopped.

And you know it can because he's told you about it once before while he was going on about another one of his murder plots from one of his books. The first thing you see is blonde hair. Most definitely not his mother or his daughter because they each change a similar shade of reddish-orange. The only person who you know that he knows with blonde hair is Gina.

Gina.

You stomach tightens in jealousy at even the thought of her. The memory of their arms wrapped around each other makes you want to wrinkle your nose in disappointment at the thought, but you stop yourself before you can make a fool of yourself in front of your 'competition.' You frown at that thought. There is no 'competition' you mentally agree and disagree with Lanie at the same time. When Lanie told you that she's his past and your his future, you believed her. For a split second. Then you thought back to her comments and body language back at the precinct that you clearly read as 'back off he's mine' and you remember that there is no competition. She has him. You don't. Sure, he may want to make you another notch on his bed post, but that's it.

Because he's Castle. And him liking you more than a conquest is absurd and wishful thinking on your part.

"Detective Beckett." Gina's voice interrupts your thoughts and for a moment your thankful that's she there to save you from yourself. A small moment. Then you realize that the tone of her voice is condescending and you briefly wonder how he could be with such a snobby bitch. But then again he was also with the 'deep fried twinkie'. "And," Gina began again, looking behind you to your team and for some reason you have the need to conceal them from the bitch. But you don't know why. "Roach, is it?"

You give a tight, forced smile. "Ryan and Esposito actually." You correct her and you notice a tint of anger in the woman's eye at your unfriendliness, but at that point you're way past caring. You flash your badge you her and lean over slightly to peer over her. You don't have to stand on your toes because even with those stilettos she isn't too tall. But you can't talk because you were at least two inch pumps almost every day anyway.

"Is Richard Castle here?" You ask, continuing to hold up your badge. You remind yourself that you have to stay professional because the Captain had told you if you wanted to remain on the case that you wouldn't involve your personal feelings. You remember when he told you that you were shocked; you didn't think that he thought so highly of you. Because he's Castle and he was just arrested for murder and you're falling for him. How are you supposed to stay objective?

You snap back into reality as you notice a reluctant expression on Gina's face as she lingers at the doorway. "You do realize that you could be arrested for aiding and abetting a criminal, don't you?" You almost wish that she would continue to stand there so you would be given the opportunity to arrest her, but that wouldn't be right. Your mother wouldn't be proud of that.

Gina obviously would rather give him up than suffer one more second talking, or being threatened, by you so she moves to where you can walk by her. In the living room you see his agent, his lawyer, and then his family. The sight of Martha and Alexis break your heart. They look utterly defeated. Out of the corner of her eye, Alexis must've noticed you because in one second she and Martha are holding onto each other tightly, and the next thing you know the girl bounced to a stop in front of you. "Detective Beckett," she murmurs hopefully. "Are you here to drop the charges?"

"No," you reply and you hear you voice tremble slightly. You hope that you spoke it quiet enough that no one notices. "I'm here to ask Mr. Castle a few questions."

The lawyer, Ms. Laurence, walks up to you after hearing the sentence. You remember thinking only hours earlier on how unsurprised you are that his lawyer was female. Alexis frowns at something you must have said and she opens her mouth to speak. "Mr. Castle?" She asks. Her tone of voice reveals how shocked she is and you internally chant Be professional, be professional, be professional.

The chant seems to help because you don't respond, and deep down you realize that the question was rhetoric. So much for professionalism, you tell yourself a second later as you realize that your feelings had just clouded your judgment. "Where is he?" You recognize Esposito's voice from behind you and you pause to mentally thank him.

"Upstairs," Alexis mutters quietly beside you. You briefly think of how tough this situation must be for her as she says, "In his bedroom."

You tense immediately. His bedroom. Or freaking course. You think about a conversation you once had with him where he mentioned bundling up in his comforter and drinking a fifth of scotch, and you can't help but think how different things are. Back then he was just an annoying writer. Now he was a suspected murder who you just happened to be in love, or falling in love, with. It seems like a different lifetime ago to you now.

"I'll show you the way," Alexis speaks quietly. You feel your head nodding before you even remember giving your brain the command do to so. As Alexis and the lawyer go in front of you, you sense Ryan and Esposito following closely behind you. You somehow feel better knowing that they're with you. Alexis pauses in front of the third door and the left and you hear someone exhale heavily. It's until you hear Alexis knock a few moments later that you realize that that person was you.

"Dad?" Alexis calls into the room and you feel your heart rate increase again. "Dad, Beckett's here." She calls into the room.

On the other side of the wall, you faintly hear someone moving around. You take a deep breath. You still can't believe that you're here at Castle's apartment about to question Castle as a murderer.

You recall your thoughts from just minutes ago. This does seem like another world.

* * *

So, this was originally supposed to be a House fiction. Not a Castle one. This was supposed to be a one-shot- not a multi-fic story. And this was supposed to be posted some time after I finished one of my other in progress stories, but since the only thing that has gone right is that it is a 'you' POV I figured that I could go ahead and post it.

Personally I hate those fics where people take the writing of the next season/book into their own hands, but yet I'm here writing one. Oh, well. Please tell me what you think!

This is set after the new promo. So Beckett arrests Castle, but after a hearing about bail it is set and he is released on it. He is able to go back to his house where his employees (lawyer, publicist, and agent) as well as his family prepare for the fallout.

And yes, I know it's short, but it's only the prologue.


	2. Don't Delude Yourself

**Chapter One: **

"Beckett," your name is the first thing that comes out of his mouth when he opens the door to his bedroom. He's wearing a wrinkled dark blue shirt that brings out the color of his eyes, and even though you've seen it on him before it takes your breath away. Castle seems to look around frantically searching for someone. Then he turns to you. It seems as if _you _were the person he was looking for. Not Alexis, his daughter, or Tara, his attorney, or even Ryan and Esposito, his friends, but you. You don't know what category you'd be put under. The lines have become blurred.

A friend? That doesn't seem enough to explain you for some reason. You consider yourself more than that. A best friend? Well, maybe, but you two don't seem _that _close. A girlfriend? _Hell, no, _you think. You may wish sometimes, but no, you're not. A muse? Still not descriptive enough, and Castle's _not _an artist. Well, sure he's skilled, but an artist? Well, maybe. An inspiration? You again feel like you're more than that, but maybe you're not. Maybe you _are _just an inspiration.

But if that's so, why is he looking at you like that?

You decide that you're getting nowhere, so you give up. You glance up from your feet where you were looking and find that Castle is still staring at you. You blink because being under his gaze is unnerving. He's staring at you like you're the only person in the room, and like he's not a murder suspect. Your _best _suspect at that time, and like you're not the _detective _who's investigating his case. No, he stares at you like you're Kate. Like he can see right through you: your flaws, your strengths, your weakness, and the fact that you're falling deeper in love with him every day. You don't blush, even though it's very hard not to. You are a detective, so you should be able to hide your emotions better. Or so you tell yourself, but it's hard.

Castle's always been able to read you too well…

_It's scary, _you think. Not only the fact that he reads you too well for either one of your goods. He doesn't look like _Castle _anymore. Not the overgrown man child that you love. Not the caring father that you've seen glimpses of and are amazed by. He looks different, and that is more unsettling than being under his intense gaze. He looks older to you, somehow. No obvious signs such as wrinkles or things like that. The look in his eye and the way he carries himself shows you how much all of this is impacting him.

_That's _even scarier. For some reason you've always pictured Castle impenetrable. Untouchable. Like nothing could ever get to him or get him down. He's always seemed to have his humor guarding him, so that's why you guess he has seemed unemotional, but right now it's different. It's almost like he's defenseless. Unguarded, but you can't be sure. The way he's looking at you right now is scrambling your thoughts. Confusing you. _Does he seem like this to everyone else? _You wonder briefly. You make a mental note to ask Esposito and Ryan that once you leave, but then you take that back. You usually don't need self-assurance.

That frightens you.

Have you suddenly turned into an unconfident woman? Is that what Richard Castle is doing to you? Making you need him? You haven't needed anyone since your mother; you've made yourself not need anyone. Even your father. You don't want to set yourself up for that colossal hurt again. You don't know that you can do that again. So why do you suddenly feel defenseless? Has Castle, whose been trying to tear down the closely guarded walls that you've built ever since you met him, finally succeeded? And what did that mean? Have you begun to need him?

You swallow before banishing that thought from your mind. You hope that you're wrong. You don't want to need him. Especially when it's vastly possible that he _will _go to prison. You feel like everyone's staring at you and you look around to see that you're right. You're about a second away from a breakdown and everyone's staring at you. _Not good, _you tell yourself. The smart ass part of you responds with a _duh, _but you ignore it.

"Mr. Castle," you choke out. "We have some questions for you." You swallow as if to reopen your closing throat. "Important questions," you add. "Is there…somewhere that we can go to…talk?"

"My study," he responds immediately. "Downstairs." He continues to stare at you until he turns in the direction of the stairs. You stare at his back. All of your questions regarding this man in front of you were making you dizzy. You just yearn to ask him one, but you can't. You have to remain professional. The Captain had entrusted you to do so, and you were not about to let him down. Despite the fact that even your stubbornness couldn't stop your crazy emotions. You breathe, wishing that you weren't here. In his house about to ask him some follow-up questions about the murder that he might have committed.

Which he was just released on only hours earlier.

His lawyer showed up only minutes after they had returned to the precinct. CSU was still investigating the apartment at that time and all the evidence was with them. They were able to hold him for the allotted twenty-four hours, but after that with no solid evidence that he had committed the murder, they were forced to release him. Sure, they could witness that he had been holding a gun, at the apartment, where a dead body was, but the victim had been suffocated. Not shot. He could have just been the person to discover the body. With a gun in his hand.

He had a story of course, but Beckett hadn't heard it. She hadn't been in the interrogation room with him or even behind the mirror. Or even in the precinct actually. She had gone to the morgue to visit Lanie to tell her everything. After a few tears, which she had covered up pretty well, she had returned and gone to the murder board writing everything down. The hardest part was attaching his picture under the 'main suspect' category of the board. You didn't go see him in lock up. You wouldn't. Esposito and Ryan could deal with him. You trusted them to. Being near like that would just close you off to the possibility that he was the killer. And you couldn't do that.

The six of you reached the bottom of the stairs and you vaguely noticed Alexis going in the direction of the living room. Castle held open the door to his study as Ryan and Esposito entered. The lawyer went to enter, but Castle held his hand out, stopping her. "What are you doing?" he asked.

You wanted to know the answer to that question as well, so you paused behind them. It wasn't like you could go in anyway though. They were blocking the entrance.

"You don't have to go in there?" He continued when Tara responded with silence. "This is a formal setting. Lawyers do not need to be present."

"Well," Tara spoke in her nasally voice and you stopped yourself from wincing. "Paula, Gina, and I have decided it would be best for your image if one of us would be present with you at all times."

"My image is just fine, Tara. The press doesn't have a clue about what's going on."

"How do you know that they," she sneered in your direction, "will not let some information _slip_?" You caught the accusation in that question and you opened your mouth to bite her head off, but Castle had already begun to talk, thankfully. Because snapping at the lawyer would, well, maybe…you had to think about that for a moment. You snapped at lawyers before. This time would (really) be any different. Well, too different.

"They're fine. I trust them," he spoke the last sentence with a small glance in your direction. It was so short though, you had to wonder if it was just your imagination playing ticks on you."

Tara huffed before reluctantly walking away. You looked at Castle a moment before walking in his office. He left the door open behind him. You were about to ask him to shut it when he asked, "Guys, do you mind if I talked to Beckett alone?"

Your team looked to you in response, but you looked away unable to decide whether you wanted to talk to him alone or not. They took that as a yes and left the study, shutting the door behind them. Castle walked over to his chair and gestured to you that you could sit. You shook your head and he sighed at you stubbornness before taking a seat himself. "You weren't in the interrogation room." He accused.

"No…" you spoke. "I…had some errands to run." You lie, hoping that the excuse wasn't as pathetic as you thought it was. Castle nodded, taking the information in.

"Tell Lanie I said hello next time you see her," You gawk at the sentence wondering how he possibly knew. _Because he knows you_, a small voice says inside of you. The stubborn part of you replied with, _either that or you're just predictable. _

"Any more messages?"

"You don't know the whole story, do you?" He asks seriously.

You shake your head, not trusting your voice.

"You should, after all, you can't solve the murder without it can you?"

You shrug. You can too, you want to argue, but your voice just doesn't work.

"She was my friend," he begins.

You take a step back. "_I _don't _want _to know." You say.

"We met back in college." He continues as if you hadn't spoken. "We kept in contact. Occasional emails, Christmas cards, and things like that."

You glare at him, but once again he ignores you.

"Then, a month ago she moves to New York. It was random and we started to have lunch together occasionally. I tried to ask her why she moved, but she was very secretive about it."

"Castle-" You warn.

"A week ago once I returned from the Hamptons, we had lunch." You try not to show any emotion about how he was back for a week and hadn't told you. You didn't want him to know how much that hurt you. "She seemed jumpy and she kept glancing over her shoulder."

"Castle, I don't _care _to know."

He finally looks up at you for the first time since he began with his story. "You may not _want _to, but don't you dare tell me you don't _care. _I can see the circles under your eyes. I _know _that this case isn't _just _affecting me and my family. You may not want it to, but it gets to you. Deep down."

He says and you stare. He knows you all too well.

"Castle, you may _think _you know me," you say and your voice is sharp, pointed. It not accidental at all. You want to send a message that's clear: back off. "But you don't. Don't try to delude yourself into anything else. This is just another case, Castle. Don't try to make it personal."

You see hurt flash across his face instantly, and you don't show how much that pains you that you're hurting him.

Then, as the silence lingers as your lies set in, you change your mind.

Maybe he doesn't know you that well.

* * *

**Additional Information: **The lawyer's name is Tara Lawrence pronounced Tar-rah not Tear-a (I know a person whose name is spelled Tara, but is pronounced Tear-a).


	3. In The Midst Of Chaos

**Chapter Two: **

You want to bolt immediately as a hurt expression takes residence on Castle's face, but you don't. Sometimes you curse your damn pride. You breathe. The air is thick, tense. You don't know what to say or do. You've probably just ruined your relationship with him. You're an idiot, you think. You and him. The two of you. You could have been amazing together. You already were at solving cases. You could have just shut the hell up and let him tell the damn story.

Should have.

But you didn't, and you pester him about having such loose lips. Hypocrite. You are an idiotic, proud, hypocrite. Such a damning combination. You finally decide to go call Esposito and Ryan in as Castle stares off into space, but then as you stand, you reconsider. If Esposito and Ryan would come in now they would pester you for the rest of the week what the two of you had talked about that had caused it to be so tense. Though, they'll probably do that anyway.

You turn away from the door, and back to Castle. "Why?" is the only word that will leave your lips of the question you were going to ask him and he looks up at you in surprise. His brows knitted in confusion, he tries to decipher your question.

Seemingly giving up, he asks you, "Why what?"

Your lips are suddenly dry and you drag your tongue across them wishing you had some Chap-Stick. You never notice Castle staring at you with wide eyes as you're doing so. You swallow before you notice you're stalling. You frown internally. When had your subconscious taken over? "Why…are you still following me?"

"I'm not…"

"Consulting," you breathe. "Following me at work."

He looks at you strangely. "I'm consulting, like you said." Castle speaks slowly as if you're a child, but it surprisingly doesn't bother you that much. You have different things on your mind. Much more important things. "Doing research for my books."

He says it so sincerely that you almost believe him. Almost. "You have enough research to write fifty books." You find yourself repeating Esposito's words.

Castle tenses. "I…I…" he verbally stumbles.

"Are you…was Esposito right?" You speak quietly, mostly to yourself, in an unusual moment of vulnerability.

"What?" He asks.

"Nothing," you murmur before walking towards the door. Out of the corner of your eye, you see Castle moving behind you, but you don't think that he's following you. A hand on your shoulder causes you to tense. Once you regain your senses, you jump out of his reach, which coincidentally causes you to move further away from the door.

"What did Esposito say? Why is he right?" He murmurs quietly. You hear shuffling on the other side of the door and your heart stops. Are they listening? You pray that they're not, but there's no way to see if they are without getting closer to Castle. And you don't want to get closer to him because, if you do, you probably won't be able to remain so clear-headed.

You change your expression to one of neutrality and you shrug feigning indifference. "Nothing," it's a complete lie. A useless attempt to trick Castle, but you don't because he can read you pretty well.

"Tell me."

"Castle..." You begin to protest, but it's not going to work. You can read it in his eyes that he's not going to take any of your bull today. You breathe, wondering why you even brought it up in the first place. You can't deal with a budding relationship with him in the midst of all this chaos. You aren't sure that you can deal with a relationship with him period. If he hurts you, you aren't sure if you will be able to move on. After all, you've already been broken once in your life.

You're insides freeze. _You're getting ahead of yourself, Beckett. _You always call yourself Beckett in your thoughts, but you aren't sure why. Maybe you listen to Beckett more than Kate. After all, the only person who calls you that anymore is Lanie. And most of the time she calls you either 'girl' or 'Katie'. Your own father calls you 'Katie' instead of Kate. Hmm, maybe it's because your internal right/wrong voice sounds strangely like Esposito. That's another thing that makes you think. After all in reality Esposito doesn't seem to have a good sense of right or wrong. It really showed after he, Castle, and even Ryan started that bet about the...

And enter hypocrisy.

You think of how you entered that bet too, soon after you discovered some incriminating evidence towards the husband.

"I can't…" your voice breaks and you stop yourself from shivering. This is so embarrassing, but thankfully Castle seems too serious to crack a joke on your behalf. "I can't do this right now. I…I shouldn't have even brought it up."

"Detective, I don't even know what you're talking about."

"Good."

You try to slip around him to open the door, but his hand on your wrist stops you. You look up, shocked, into his eyes. You blink to stop from loosing yourself in them and you look around. You twist your wrist out of his grasp and take a step back. You back hits the wall, and you frown. This so isn't good. He steps forward, successfully blocking your exit and you breathe heavily. No, this isn't good at all. You briefly think about how movie-like this entire situation is and how it would make an amazing television show until you feel his hot breath on your skin. You tense.

He smells like scotch, but you couldn't tell that he was drunk. He looks sober, and well he acted sober before he backed you up to the wall. Because, seriously, sober Castle would be too nervous of what you were going to do to him if he did this to you. Hmm, you decide to grab his ear, but he stops you his hands grabbing your wrists to press them up against the wall. He has this wild look in his eyes scares you and you move your knee to get in position to knee him in the groin (you want to get away _that _much), but he reads you mind and positions himself to where his leg is blocking yours.

You try to control your breathing so that he wouldn't sense how nervous you were, but your thudding heart exposes you. "Castle, let me go." You tell him, wishing your voice wasn't as weak as it sounded.

"Not until you explain to me what the hell you were talking about."

"It's not important," you struggle against him. If his body being so close to yours didn't distract you so much, you could find a way to get out of his grasp, but you couldn't and it was embarrassing.

"Apparently it is."

"Fine," you explode. "Esposito told me that you had feelings for me. Not in so many words, of course, but that's what he meant. I…I was going to talk to you about it later, but…but then Gina showed up and…" You trailed off.

He looks so shocked that you use it as an excuse to escape. "What about Demming?" He breathes. You stare as his back, thankful that he couldn't see your expression.

"I broke up with him while you were taking Alexis to Princeton."

"You broke up with Demming…" he turned around slowly, "for me?"

You swallow. "Well…" you trailed off. "He just wasn't what I needed."

He steps closer to you. "And I am?"

"You…were," you admit shyly. He stares at you intensely and you turn away from him. "Then," you add.

"Not now?" You try to ignore how broken and hopeless his voice sounded. It shocks you. After all, when he left with Gina… you internally scold yourself for thinking about her. Every time you do so you chest begins to hurt painfully.

"Gina…" you finally look at him. "Aren't you with her?"

His brows come together, raised. "No, no, I'm not."

"Then, how…she said that you talked all night."

"Well, I ranted all night. She was just the unfortunate soul on the other end."

"You could've…I mean, I would have listened, Castle." You tell him.

"Well," he voice shows his nervousness. "Your, well, the one person I couldn't tell."

"Why?" You ask before it dawns on you. It was you who he was talking to Gina about. You wonder why he was ranting about you before you finally put two and two together. He was probably ranting about your relationship with Demming. He always did seem so defensive around your ex. A silence takes up between the two of you. Neither one of you know what to say. You've both discovered that the other has feelings for you. You slowly lean back to sit on his desk and Castle collapses into one of the chairs in front of you. You wonder where this leaves you.

"What do we do now?" He asks quietly.

You feel your eyebrows scrunch up as you think about it. "We wait."

"What do you mean?"

"We wait until after this is finished, and you're cleared. Then-"

"You sound so confident." He interrupts you. '

You shrug before continuing, "Then," you smile, "Maybe I'll let you take me out on a date."

He looks up at you, shocked. "Really?"

The hopefulness in his voice causes your smile to widen. "If you're good."

"No more murder charges?" He jokes, smiling.

You grin after seeing his smile, comforted by the fact that his old self was returning, "No more murder charges."

He stands. "Can we hug it out?"

You eye him warily, "Only if you control where you put your hands."

"Well, if you're like this before we even _begin _dating," he says playfully. "I'm not sure if we'll last long."

"Castle," you stand. "Shut up."

He wraps his arms around you and lean into him. You fit together perfectly. It was natural, right. In that moment, you weren't worried about the murder charges, or the fact that it was you who was investigating _him. _In that moment, you weren't even upset that you could've have _three _months together, that now you will never have. Right there in his arms, even in the midst of all this chaos, you knew everything was going to be fine. Because you had each other.

* * *

The end. :)

Okay, so originally it was going to be longer, but, well, somehow I found myself writing this end like this. Originally, it was supposed to be dragged out until Castle was finally proclaimed innocent and everything, but I kind of like it like this. Even though, I had planned the whole damn murder thing out. Oh, well…

Hope you liked it! And thanks for all the reviews!


End file.
